Tim James's thoughts about South Africa's wines.

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Selfie with blood

Well, that’s an overly melodramatic title, but there is a little blood still seeping through my beard, and some grazes on my nose, and a section of my moustache has been sheered off, and the scab is forming very irritatingly, and my lip is cut.

Coming off my bicycle this morning in rush hour traffic in the middle of Main Road, Claremont, this morning, was just another element in what’s been a bad week on the whole – hence my silence on this blog (or partly hence, there’s always a bit of more inexplicable blog-block too, these days). But I’m hoping things look up tomorrow.

The bicycle thing was entirely my fault, I think. Going quite fast, I hit a hole or a bump or something (as far as I can recall), no doubt applied my front-wheel brake too hard, and went over the top. Could have had much worse results (poor Rosa Kruger had a more rural bike prang a few years back and did a lot of painful damage to herself). Fortunately, no-one ran over me, and I got me and my bike to the side of the road, where I soon fainted, and a couple of people were extremely kind and caring. They got me marshalled flat on my back into an ambulance which came remarkably quickly (or so it seemed to me). Interestingly, the question of my medical aid came up very soon. Fortunately I’m part of the privileged, so soon the ambulance (also filled with kind and efficient people) took me to the local hospital, where I was examined, cleaned up, and allowed to go. Strangely, rather easily allowed to go, without anyone checking how I’d get home, though I’d had mild concussion…. I walked, which seemed a nice thing to do – one of the earlier kind people, Judy, had taken my bike to her nearby workplace, but I didn’t quite feel like collecting it then.

Anyway, so that’s that, and the most enduring part of the injuries (I know from experience) will be my aching right-hand fingers – no doubt bent back and sprained when I landed.

The rest of the week? Well, a worryingly sick old dog has been occupying my mind a lot. On the slightly brighter side, a tasting of mostly recent releases with Angela Lloyd on Wednesday, which contained a few really nice wines, a few really not-nice wines and a dozen middling ones. I firmly intended to write about some of them immediately, but didn’t. Next week.

Of course, there have been some good wines to drink – I think fondly of a Graillot Crozes-Hermitage Rouge 2007, and a Radford Dale Renaissance of Chenin Blanc 2012 (a rather pretentious name, but it’s one of the best of the fine Stellenbosch chenins).

The most soothing aspect of the week has been the painting of my bedroom cupboard doors. (Facilitated by extra time at home thanks to the unsoothing matter of the University of Cape Town, where I have a morning job, being closed for most of the week.) Shall I rise and go to take a photo of them, though there’s still a way to go? I will – I can’t imagine anyone is still reading this, but if they are so bored as to be doing that, they might as well see my doors (bearing bits of masking tape still, and, as I say, as yet unfinished). Which I am already rather proud of. As the art-historically aware will perceive, the inspiration is El Lissitsky, though I intend to add a bit of Roy Lichtenstein (WHAAM!).

So that’s been my week, but there should be a big upswing tomorrow, Friday, when I’m doing a favourite thing and travelling up the West Coast with Eben Sadie. I was planning on going as far as Malmesbury tonight, but sick dog and sore mouth prompted a delay, so I shall leave home at 5, and we’ll leave Malmesbury soon after 6. Not sure exactly what we’re doing, but it will undoubtedly be more than a little interesting, in that wonderful part of the Cape.